A Change in the Weather 6.1

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Images (top to bottom): image1: detail of a satellite image taken this morning over West Africa, showing Senegal; image2: satellite image taken last night; image3: satellite image taken yesterday morning; image4: satellite image shows that the seasonal monsoon has gradually shifted to the north; image5: forecast for Dakar; image6: forecast for Ziguinchor, in southernmost Senegal; image7: monthly average for precipitation showing that the rain returns in June, though with few measurable rainy days; image8: videoclip of the weather forecast by BBC.

The weather has shifted dramatically in the past several days. Yesterday, it was downright jungly in the morning -- muggy, overcast, a sense that showers were possible. Colin, our director of maintenance at ISD, mentioned that he had the guys out cleaning gutters in anticipation of precipitation.

It's early yet. We're likely experiencing the northern edge of the prominent band of monsoonal rain, still hovering over the Gulf of Guinea to the south. Still, you'll hear a passing reference to rain returning to the Sahel in the BBC forecast. The Sahel refers to the transition zone between the Sahara and the savannah regions of Africa in which Senegal lies.

After an unusually blustery wind in the early hours Wednesday morning, much more common in the fall, I checked the satellite image for West Africa (image3), and carried an umbrella to school. A little early, but the rainy season is certainly on the approach.